Training Specificity Unveiled: UK, Spain, and Brazil Researchers Break Down Bilateral vs. Unilateral Strength Gains

Training Specificity

A Comparison of Bilateral vs. Unilateral-Biased Strength and Power Training Interventions on Measures of Physical Performance in Elite Youth Soccer Players

Reference:

J Strength Cond Res. 2020 Jun 10. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000003659. Online ahead of print.

https://journals.lww.com/nsca-jscr/Fulltext/2020/08000/A_Comparison_of_Bilateral_vs__Unilateral_Biased.1.aspx/?cid=eTOC%20Issues.2020-nsca-jscr-00124278-202008000-00000&rid=V_0000000027757148&TargetID=&EjpToken=MOQVYEW3xSb95PdSNiI0iMUkMroOiUCfW5wtnoh_wawVL40o3vgey2FAeGjNVDNzSiCyxKUmmw&mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiTURZNE1XRXhPRGs1Tm1JNCIsInQiOiJ6bWRSNXNxSGQ1OFB3ak5SZDVtUCtsaXg1dEp6ZGZHa1wvZDhxbkVBYWRZTGpST2phaWlcLzBON3c3VTZuRnRNWUc0bHhmcVwvZ0d1Vnh1Y0F4enF6WkpXTVg3QkZuZXN6K1NKbGY5XC9JQWQrNDJsakozSjR0cXN3ZDd6R1p2U0pLN1cifQ%3D%3D

Researchers from the UK, Spain, and Brazil keep proving what we’ve been teaching for a long time and it is the concept of training specificity. In this study they made subjects train bilaterally or unilaterally, and they found that even though both interventions increased strength levels, the unilateral training brought better improvements on the unilateral tests, and the bilateral training created high increases on the bilateral tests.